John Keith Ewers (13 June 19049 March 1978) was a novelist, poet, schoolteacher and short story writer from

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

.Gregory, Jenny, 'Ewers, John Keith (1904–1978)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ewers-john-keith-10138/text17901, accessed 16 July 2011. This article was first published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, (MUP), 1996 He was the second son of Ernest Ewers, orchardist, and his wife Annie Eliza, née Gray. When he was 6 years old, his mother died. Ewers was educated at James Street Intermediate and Perth Modern schools, and at

Claremont Teachers College Claremont Teachers College was Western Australia's first post-secondary teaching institution. It opened in 1902 and closed in 1981, when it became a College of Advanced Education then a campus of Edith Cowan University before being acquired by ...

. He began writing while he was a young teacher. The ''Australian Journal'' published in 1924 was his first short story, under the nom-de-plume, Waterjugs, a play on the meaning of

ewer In American English, a pitcher is a container with a spout used for storing and pouring liquids. In English-speaking countries outside North America, a jug is any container with a handle and a mouth and spout for liquid – American "pitchers" wi ...

. He wrote early on in his career in '' Our Rural Magazine'' and ''Walkabout''. Ewers was involved in the Western Australian branch of the

Fellowship of Australian Writers The Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW) is a collection or federation of state-based organizations aiming to support and promote the interests of Australian writers. It was established in Sydney in 1928, with the aim of bringing writers togethe ...

and was its president. He campaigned to preserve "Tom Collins" House (the home of

Joseph Furphy Joseph Furphy ( Irish: Seosamh Ó Foirbhithe; 26 September 1843 – 13 September 1912) was an Australian author and poet. He mostly wrote under the pseudonym Tom Collins and is best known for his novel '' Such Is Life'' (1903), regarded as an A ...

, author of '' Such is Life''), in the Perth suburb of

Swanbourne Swanbourne is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, two miles (3.2 km) east of Winslow and three miles (4.8 km) west of Stewkley. History The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin and may mean "swan stream". It was recorded ...

. He also co-authored, with Deirdre Ellis Weston, the grammar textbooks that were used widely throughout Western Australian schools during the 1950s to 1970s. In June 1936 Ewers married school teacher and

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

scientist

Jean Grant McIntyre Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

. They had one child,

Trisha Kotai-Ewers Trisha is either: * a female given name usually derived from the female Latin given name Patricia (derived from the Latin word patrician, meaning 'noble'), * a Hindu unisex given name a transliteration of तृषा (Tṛṣā) meaning thirst ...

born in 1939.

Works

* ''Money street : a novel'' (London, 1933) * ''The story of the pipe-line'': being an account of the construction of the Coolgardie water scheme with some chapters on the early history of Western Australia (Perth, 1935) * ''Fire on the Wind'' (London, 1935, Hodder & Stoughton) * ''Tell the people!: an explanation of the little-known writings of Joseph Furphy (Tom Collins) in the light of their value for Australia to-day'' (Sydney, 1943) * ''Tales from the Dead Heart'' (Sydney, 1944) * ''Men Against the Earth'' (Melbourne, 1946) * ''Perth Boys' School, 1847-1947: the story of the first hundred years of a great school, with a background of the history of education in Western Australia'' (Perth, 1947) * ''For Heroes to Live In'' (Melbourne, 1948) * ''Harvest and Other Stories'' (Sydney, 1949) * ''With the Sun on My Back'' (Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1953) * ''Who Rides on the River?'' (Sydney, 1956) * ''Bruce Rock'' (1959) * ''The Western Gateway: a History of Fremantle'' (City of Fremantle and UWA Press, Nedlands. 1971 2nd rev. ed.; 1st ed. 1948) * ''I came naked : a selection of verse 1970-1975'' (Black Rock, Vic. 1976.) * ''Long enough for a joke: an autobiography'' (Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1983) With Deirdre Ellis Weston: * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ewers, John K. 1904 births 1978 deaths 20th-century Australian novelists Australian male novelists People educated at Perth Modern School Writers from Western Australia Australian male short story writers 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets 20th-century Australian short story writers 20th-century Australian male writers